Yesterday a decent number of Team Rogue members ran the San Antonio Rock n Roll half marathon. This is 3 weeks out from our race, CIM on December 6th. A 1/2 marathon three weeks out seems like a great addition to the training approach for the team, nice way to test the legs out and gauge where our fitness lies. Overall I’m pleased with the run yesterday, a 2:45 marathon at CIM seems achievable … not a for sure thing by any means but something between 2:45 and 2:48 seems like something I could manage given things go well.

Yesterday was a 1/2 marathon PR for me with a time of 1:19:19 (6:03 minutes/mile pace). The plan for the race was to go out at 6:05 for the first 6 miles, then down to 6:00 minute pace for the next 4 miles and then hold on for dear life. My overall time was 13 seconds off the “plan” so not too bad on the day.

The first five miles were according to plan, after we reached the highest point on the course and were on a nice downhill for some reason I eased off too much and hit a 6:11 mile when it should have been faster. I just didn’t mentally gauge my effort well, something to keep in mind on the downhill’s at CIM. After that it was pretty smooth sailing until mile 10 which was a gradual uphill for most of the mile so the 6:09 mile. Then it was just getting into a rhythm and getting to the finish. I’m happy with where my fitness is, but not sure about breaking 2:45. The final race plan will likely come into place the week of the marathon given all the life things (getting married this weekend) that have to happen before that 🙂

As for the race, the support for Rogue’s was amazing. The number of people screaming “Go Team Rogue”, or “Go Kamran and Asia” was great, it seemed to also come just at the right time. Having Steve there right after mile 12 was nice, he gave me the kick in the ass I needed so I didn’t just get comfortable and take it easy at the finish. Seeing Ruth and John twice was nice, I’ve only been a spectator for this race in the past so appreciate them being out there to support all of us.

It was also great to finish and see Team Rogue Elite, Joe shared the good news about the 1-2-3 finish for the men, 2-3 finish for the women, and a men’s Olympic marathon trials qualifier to boot. Not too shabby for a days running!